Lincolnite

We need the arena. I think we should all vote yes.

I dig the initial proposals, too.  I’m floored that people think it’s “too modern” or that it “doesn’t look like the old buildings in the Haymarket.”  Are you kidding me?!  Heaven forbid we have a nice, modern building in Lincoln, Nebraska.  If this were Austin or Madison it wouldn’t even be up for discussion.  We’d have a hip, contemporary building.  Unfortunately, many provincial Lincolnites mistakenly believe every building in the Haymarket must match, apparently.  We need a cutting edge, modern jewel for an arena… not a big square, brick box with roman columns.  We’ve already got one coliseum.  We don’t need a bigger one.  Geez!

(1) Without an airport that offers affordable prices and connections from cities other than Chicago and Denver, people who fly in for an event at the proposed arena will most likely fly into Omaha.  This is where they will rent a car; not in Lincoln.  The City of Lincoln won’t capture the tax on those rental cars!

(2) A lot of people who stay at Lincoln hotels already complain about the rates, these will only go up.  Those that used to stay may opt to drive home to save money, especially if they are shelling out for tickets and paying more for food/drink due to the increased restaurant tax.

(3) Sure, it looks great but what is it going to be used for when the basketball team isn’t using it?  Besides moving the usual acts over from Pershing, what is it going to atract that Quest won’t grab first?

I do think we need the arena. I don’t believe, however, that the traffic flow plan is adequate. Hopefully, I will be proven wrong.

Proposals look great, hopefully it will work out like Conseco in Indianapolis. That’s in a historic area but it has a modern feel.

I’m all for it, but I have a feeling the opponents will overrule.  We wouldn’t want to change Lincoln would we?

I do enjoy reading comments from people asking things like “why don’t we fix the streets instead?”  Odds are they voted against the bond a few years ago. 

The best comment I’ve recently read was from the city roads supervisor who talked about the “always something wrong with Lincoln” group.

One question…will the Breslow Ice Rink be shelved too?

That’s a very good question. The ice rink is mostly (entirely?) privately funded, so the rink itself should be in good shape regardless of the vote. However, the infrastructure—roads, parking, etc.—that would die with a “no” vote might indirectly kill the rink too.

I’ve been concerned about traffic flow too. M and N Street are going to be counted on to carry a lot more traffic than they carry now. Maybe they are up for it, but I’m not so sure. Still haven’t wrapped my mind around the traffic to the north.

I really like the way the design incorporates some of the architectural themes in the Haymarket while giving us a modern looking facility.

I think her column was a disservice to the project. Jack and John hammered her this morning on their show, and after hearing them, I think I completely agree.

With two recent columns, Deena has gone from one of my favorite things about the LJS to my doghouse.

Not a loaded question: What parts of the column did you (and J&J;) think were unfair?

I think the whole questioning of the additional authority, and making it appear that something nefarious is happening with only putting $25 million to vote instead of $344 million. They raised a good point (actually several) about how the new authority is a positive. Most notably, that it keeps the money out of the city’s coffers, so they couldn’t just dip into it for other things.

Of course that would never happen in Lincoln, right?

But at any rate - I thought that in and of itself was a wonderful point. J&J;made the case that they think that column could be a tipping point for the arena to fail. I think that gives her too much credit. It’s also funny, because I was thinking (though I could be wrong) that the LJS’s official position was pro-arena (from the OpEd page).

The LJS is very pro-arena. That’s why I like Deena’s columns; they provide counter-weight to the editorial page.

As for J&J;, their point is reasonable, yes. But the fact is the City will be liable for $300+ million that they could raise taxes—including property taxes—to cover. That’s a huge, huge problem for the City since officials have been promising that the arena will not require a property tax increase. In truth, they’re just hoping that the arena won’t require a property tax increase. Nobody knows for certain at this point. City officials sound confident, but even the best forecast data in the world don’t offer a crystal ball.

That being said, the current financing picture does not include financial support from groups like ISG. That represents tens of millions of dollars in financial support—perhaps around $75 million. I’m very pleased the City left out those numbers for now. If the City is confident this can happen without ISG, then having them (or somebody similar) on board will really make things easier for us.

ESPN is correct about the bottlenecks.  But not if you bike.  You can ride non-stop from Devaney to O Street via the new Antelope Valley bike paths, and maybe all the way to J Street.  I haven’t been down there lately to check the progress.

Park your car.. walk or bike.

Your point is valid, but I can’t really bike from the SE corner of Lincoln with a family of four for an event.

The parking problem rings kind of hollow for me. I understand we are considering an arena of 14,000-16,000 seats. But according to the map of the whole area as presented by the LJS, there will be some 4,000 or so new parking spots - lots, garages, or whatever. Plus, there are already a lot of parking opportunities (not enough) in that area.

When people ask how you’ll get a crowd of 16,000 to come down there with that parking situation, I’d ask this - how do we somehow manage to get 80,000 people down there for football Saturdays? It works. It’s not great, but it works. This shall work too.

1) I don’t think the expectation is that the car rental and hotel tax is coming from those traveling in for events at the new arena. It will come from everyday business travelers primarily. Husker football weekends will kick in a chunk, too.

2) See above, and, actually, as a frequent business traveler, I’d say hotel rates are down, and by quite a bit from the last couple of years.

3) I’m not sure the intent is to compete with Qwest. The trend is toward more moderate to smaller-sized concert venues. The new arena will attract many events that Persing couldn’t—see Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.

It works because there are places, throughout Lincoln that pick people up and bus them in.  I honestly don’t see this happening with regular arena events.  And if they are planning on that, has the additional cost of the buses and their employees been factored in to the whole “how much does it cost” issue?

I want Lincoln to change… I was born and raised here, and the change that has happened so far has been positive.  However, I believe the proposal of WHERE the arena is going to be is going to create a nightmare in the downtown area.  I’ve already stopped attending the farmers market during home games because of parking.  I don’t take my kids to the museums during home games because all the parking lots, even if you are NOT going to game, charge $12 for an hour.  I don’t shop downtown during home games… I avoid it like the plague.  I think a balance needs to be made that accommodates local and out of town.

One question I haven’t heard mention of is the flood plain thing.  Supposedly this arena is in the flood plain.  What happens when the grade is raised and it’s now out of the flood plain?  That’s right… someone else’s property goes into the flood plain.  How do those people get compensated?  How would you like to learn that your home or property is now in the FP due to no fault of your own when 6 months ago it wasn’t?!  That would be a bitter pill.  Not that this doesn’t happen every day (why?) but this is an especially obviousl example of it.  I’m still for it but that’s one downside to an arena.

I thought about the bus issue, but there’s no way that even accounts for half of the crowd, I wouldn’t think.

The Big Red Express buses shuttle just a small portion of game day traffic. StarTran says they average 5,100 trips per game. It’s not clear if that means 5,100 one-way trips (2,550 riders, or about 3% of the stadium’s capacity) or round trips (5,100 riders, or about 6% of the stadium’s capacity). Either way, we’re talking about a relatively small chunk of the game day crowd.